Now come on: what could possibly be better than aged port and chocolate?

Well… how about chocolate with port?

Less washing of glasses. Fingers to lick. All good!

Check out the hand-crafted chocolate bars from Mink. Hand made in small batches in Vancouver. No additives to extend shelf-life, so you also have the perfect excuse to eat the whole bar in one sitting if you have no willpower. Not cheap at $6.25… but then, nothing of quality ever is.

Still coming off the high of watching Coldplay the other week, and suddenly remembered I’m off to see Snow Patrol tomorrow evening at the Orpheum.

The power of the Internet has revealed the likely setlist, and I’m pleased to learn that my favourite song off the Fallen Empires album (In the End) is a strong candidate for the show, if Chicago was anything to go by. Second favourite (Lifening) is in there too as a likely encore. Beautiful lyrics.

But today, I’d like to share some thoughts of another strong candidate for inclusion – This Isn’t Everything you Are.

How often it is that we take one aspect of ourselves and temporariliy fixate on it, forgetting all the other facets and modes of being that make us such interesting animals?

A relationship. With a lover, with an ill relative. And if that relationship fails, or the relative dies, we need to remember that we were not defined purely by that relationship.

Snow Patrol – This Isn’t Everything You Are

You can’t find the phone, so you can call it off
But it might be for the best
You can’t walk away, anyway
Cause you’ve nowhere else to go
Is he worth all this, is it a simple yes?
Cause if you have to think, it’s fucked
Feels like you loved him more, than he loved you
And you wish you’d never met

Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over
Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over

You’ve been up all night, and the night before
You’ve lost count of drinks and time
And your friends keep calling, worried sick
There’s strangers everywhere

Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over
Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over

And in one little moment
It all implodes
This isn’t everything you are
Breathe deeply in the silence
No sudden moves
This isn’t everything you are
Just take the hand that’s offered
And hold on tight
This isn’t everything you are

There’s joy not far from here, right
I know there is
This isn’t everything you are

When you took the call
How could you know
That he’d slipped away last night
And you wish you went home, days ago
To say goodbye or just hello

Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over
Don’t keel over now
Don’t keel over

And in one little moment
It all implodes
This isn’t everything you are
Breathe deeply in the silence
No sudden moves
This isn’t everything you are
Just take the hand that’s offered
And hold on tight
This isn’t everything you are

There’s joy not far from here, right
I know there is
This isn’t everything you are

Taking a stroll around our local ponds as they are slowly being rehabilitated after their dredging, we came across a family of geese. I happened to have my Box Brownie with me, so thought I’d share a few snaps of the youngsters as they bickered and mucked about under the watchful eyes of mum and dad. If you’re prone to uttering “aw cute!” though, you are banished to the corner…

Guys! Wait up… I’ve lost a contact somewhere…

Last one in’s a mucky duck!

Just cruisin’

Proud mum

I’m Spartacus! I mean Ryan!

No – I’m Ryan!

Ryan who?

Ryan gosling, you moron! Wait – that’s me too.

Who cares? I’m hungry.

I’m still hungry. It’s your own fault for using the motor wind.

You still here?

Like, I once saw this heron, right? And, like, it stood on one leg, right? Like this, right? And then, like, it totally fell over.

Maybe if we just ignore the guy with the camera, he’ll leave us alone.

A few readers may recall come pictures I posted when our two local ponds were being drained. That was back in February. Progress is being made, and one of the ponds has been refilled. Aparently the mud dredged out had an unexpectedly high zinc level, so the council had to find a different waste dump that was certified to accept the mud. Mud that had hitherto been totally fine for the local ducks, but was now unfit to have within the city boundaries of Surrey, BC.

As the park is slowly being returned to normal, I took my trusty camera obscura for a walk and captured a few snaps of the different aspects of the Spring day. The glorious blooms from the magnolias, the pathetic little piles of bikes and shopping trolleys that had been salvaged from the ponds, the heavy equipment lying idle for the weekend, awaiting Monday’s renewed action. There’s much to be seen if you choose to look.

What a load of rubbish!

A budding star

Heaven scent

One day son, if you keep eating your traffic cones, all this will be yours

To promote their exhibition stand at the Franfurt Book Fair, Eichborn the publisher with the fly prepared 200 flies with an ultra light banner. The banner was attached with natural wax. After a short time the banner dropped off by itself. And the flies were not harmed.

When they say flies, they actually mean flies too! It’s an old one but when you actually realise what they’ve done, it’s great and very different. It’s funny to watch the flies fly around people. I wonder how they got them on the flies.